Opel GT Concept Has Little Production Intent

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Opel-Vauxhall have good reasons for bringing forth the GT concept, but unfortunately, production intent doesn’t seem to be one of them.

According to Automotive News, the automakers have stated a production GT was never in the cards. Instead, the concept was brought forth to reinvigorate emotion into the both brands’ design, Opel revealed in a statement.

The GT Concept is “purely a concept study to show off innovations that may one day be found in an Opel production car,” a brand spokesman said.

Originally, reports stated Opel was eying a 2018 introduction for a new GT, which would coincide with the original GT’s 40th anniversary, marking 40 years since the first hand-assembled GTs were produced.

Opel blamed an ever-shrinking sport coupe market for the decision, but did say it would at least consider a production GT after gauging public reaction at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show.

“We will wait and see what the reaction is, but this is a niche segment that is shrinking in size. We would have to look at that very closely, but even if we were to decide in favor of building the car, it is certainly nothing that could already be on the market next year or the year after that,” Opel added.

If a modern GT were to enter production, it wouldn’t be the first time the brand offered a niche sportscar; the Opel Speedster and mid-2000s GT are prime examples. However, we’re not sure a new sportscar would fit into Opel’s profitability plans at the moment.

The enthusiast can only dream.

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— Sean Szymkowski

Sean is a lead staff writer for GM Authority. The words above are fueled by passion and large amounts of caffeine. Find him on Instagram: @helloimseann

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7 Comments

The design is pretty cool and the technology used like the contra-vision glass and the touch pad to open doors is pretty amazing! The performance of course with a little change can be improved. I wanted this car to go into production. Well I was also searching for a lot of information about this car since the design really struck me and after searching through a lot over the internet i found this site http://www.sportscarsvs.com/en/vauxhall-gt-concept/model-1563-0 where i read all the specifications of this car!

The Opel GT could possibly be built using a shortened Alpha platform.. but it would mean that the car would still weigh and cost as much as a Camaro; but on the other side of the coin is that it could be possibly powered by the 650 horsepower LT4 supercharged 6.2L V8.

Well here is the problem the Alpha will not go this small. That I would say is the major stumbling block here. Also you want it to be priced with a Miata not a Camaro.

Second it was designed to be a 3 cylinder so putting a V8 is not even in the cards. We are not sure even a 4 would fit.

This was nothing but a show car. It was to sell styling to the public and it could be used to try to sell GM on investing in a smaller platform. Other parts of GM want a Sub Alpha model and this could be used as a tool to sell them on investing into this platform.

Not much on this car is production like so I would not hold my breath on this one. The Avista has a better chance of the two and it is 50/50.

A conventional car like this to take on Mazda would be fun but right now with Opel and Buick rebuilding there are other things they are in greater need than a low volume 2 seater car.

I even own a sports car but realize things like replacements for the cars they have now are much more important. profit and volume wise.

I think Avista may have upset any GT development plans. Avista is such an easy, 90 percent done job (Camaro) & simply needs new sheet metal.
GT would be a major project. Avista is a slam dunk low production model much in the GM tradition.

Opel/Vauxhall have previous history with delivering low-volume niche sports-cars. Working with Lotus, Blydenstein, Panther, Irmscher and Bitter, they have created some sensational vehicles, not least the mid-engine VXR220 Turbo/Speedster, Chevette HSR and the sensational Lotus Carlton/Omega – in its day the fastest 4-door saloon in the world, bar none!

So will they build the GT ? … Well I wouldn’t rule it out, even if it means bringing in a partner to help deliver the goods.

As for the production version? The punters will obviously require wind-down windows and the super-wide opening doors will be reduced to normal sized apertures for the sake of body rigidity. And the lack of external mirrors (replaced by internal screen monitors) … this is nothing new. We’ve seen it all before. Heck, folks seem to forget that prior to September 1972, wing and door mirrors were optional extras on virtually every car! Yeah the monitor was the driver looking in his/her rear-view screen mounted mirror.

And as far as the red-wall tyres are concerned … I have to say I kinda like ’em!

So then, let’s go for it Opel/Vauxhall, and slap a federalized tri-shield on the grille for good measure, along with a roaring lion. What’s not to like or lose? Sorry Chevy lovers … but your bow-tie will need to stay locked firmly in the closet for this one.

That is pre globalisation history. GM once produced unique Opel and Vauxhall lines, too, but that isn’t happening again.
The only way this could happen would be if PSA had a platform for use and wished to partner but, alas, nope.
The car isn’t all that exciting anyway!